Cast:
Oh Yeong-il (Il-Woo [Illo]), Kwang Ho Lee (Yoo Young [Icho]), Nam Jeong-im (Yoo Soon-a), Lee Sun-jae (Yoo Kwang-nam), Moon Kang (Kim Yu-ri), and Cho Kyoung-min (Yongary) Directed by Kim Ki-duk.
Review:
I'm sure you are familiar with kaiju movies before, so how about a movie that sure seems to be one of a kind? Released as Great Monster Yongary, this was a South Korean-Japanese production between Keukdong Entertainment and Toei, with the title character suit designed in South Korea and the suit being built in Japan. Equis Productions was also brought in to help with the effects. Masao Yagi, builder of the Gamera suit for Daiei, was supervisor for the suit in this film. Of course, there is a caveat when it comes to watching this film that does not happen with other films of world cinema. Two years after the release of the film in Seoul, Keukdong came up with a deal to release the film in North America with (who else?) American International Pictures, which they did under the title you see here, which was done for their television division (which meant the film would be shown quite regularly in the following decade), with Titra Studios behind the dubbing and Toei acting as the sales agent. This version lasts 80 minutes. Unfortunately, when Keukdong sent all of the negatives (and sound effects), they soon became lost...which means the only way to watch the film is the English dub (there is considerable irony that the film wasn't shown on Korean television until 2011, and that utilized the dub but with Korean subtitles from the script included). Well, technically there is footage of the original negative, since a 48 minute version was acquired by the Korean Film Archive early in the 21st century, albeit with considerable damage to the print. In 1999, a "reimagining" film was made by Shim Hyung-rae called Yonggary (incidentally, an expanded version of the film would be done in 2001, which was released in America as Reptilian).
This was the third monster movie released by the country, following the heels of Space Monster Wangmagwi (1967), released a few months earlier along with Bulgasari (1962, a film so unpopular it is now lost). At the time, one must understand the differences between what one sees of South Korea between 1967 and now. Not even two decades prior, the North had invaded them and sparked war between the two countries (comprised of separate governments administered by the U.S. for the South and the Soviet Union in the North, which was meant to be temporary before they were meant to be unified). This comes around when you think of the idea of manned space programs involving Korea, which you might be surprised to know did not send an astronaut to space until 2008. Well, I suppose the best way to start a kaiju movie is start with a wedding...and a kid who makes the newlywed itch with some sort of light ray. Honestly, with how the film plays out, I should have just reminded myself of the connection between Gamera and Yongary a bit earlier, although at least the kid here is alright. Well, at least for a kid that thinks itching rays are funny and plays a part in figuring out monster weaknesses. Oh, and when the kid uses that device on the monster, it dances around for a bit. So yes, the monster (named as a combination of the words Yong [dragon] and Gari [after Bulgasari]) likes to consume oil, breathes fire, and can't stand ammonia. This becomes ridiculous when puddles of red are seen around him when the monster slowly dies after getting more ammonia. Monster movies seem to really be judged more on what you see than what you hear, honestly, and this is a test case to prove that theory for a film that seems like a Gamera imitator more than anything. Sure, you can hear all the stuff about ammonia and sci-fi talk, but one really has to look at the strangeness that comes from a odd duck of a monster (one the director didn't even care for that much in its design) that dances. It's a movie full of hokum and odd duck maneuvering in plot, but it is rife to share a chuckle with or sleep on, one that can't rile you up too much if you know what to watch, rife in predictability that might as well resemble junk food. The effects are not quite up to the level seen by the plethora of Godzilla movies released in the same era, but they are passable for a consortium of filmmakers trying their hand at giving Korea a monster movie (besides, they could be like the North and kidnap a director to make a monster movie...). The actors seem pretty stiff, but they play to what you expect from a monster movie that plays the usual hand for an audience that is comprised of either people who didn't have many monster movies (South Korea) or folks already familiar with rubber suit action, which just means you get a middling curiosity. I can't say it is a hidden gem by any means, it is at least curious enough to inspire a watch for anyone interested in monster movies with a slight change in perspective. 54 years later, it may not be a great cult classic, but it has managed to endure fairly well for what can be seen and heard that keeps it from languishing in film purgatory.
Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.
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